Q3 NPE Filings Increased Year over Year, Building on Q1-Q2 Growth

NPEs added 477 defendants to patent litigation campaigns in Q3 2024, up by 27% from the same quarter last year (when NPEs added 376 defendants). Third-quarter NPE filings fell by 7% compared to the trailing Q3 average for 2021-2023 and were 6% lower than in Q2 2024. NPE litigation is up by 22% so far this year compared to the first three quarters of 2023.

Data also indicate that a majority of NPE litigation in recent years, including Q3, has involved continuing patents, which claim priority to earlier non-provisional US patent applications and are often filed to claim different features of the underlying inventions reflected in those earlier applications as the market evolves. In particular, from January 1, 2019 through September 30, 2024, 60% of all defendants added to NPE campaigns were sued over at least one continuing patent. During that same period, continuing patents accounted for 57% of the total number of patents asserted by NPEs.

Operating companies, meanwhile, added 283 defendants in Q3 2024, up by 11% from the year-ago quarter, up by 13% compared to the trailing Q3 average, and down by 5% compared to the preceding quarter. Year-to-date operating company litigation is up by 10% compared to Q1-Q3 2023.

Overall, patent plaintiffs added 760 defendants in the third quarter of 2024, or 20% more than in Q3 2023 and 5% less than Q2 2024, also virtually matching the trailing average. So far this year, patent litigation is up by 17% compared to Q1-Q3 2023.

See RPX’s third-quarter review for more on other key trends impacting patent litigation in Q3 2024.